


Falling Short

by Emblue_Sparks



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-28
Updated: 2017-10-28
Packaged: 2019-01-25 14:12:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12533360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emblue_Sparks/pseuds/Emblue_Sparks
Summary: It's date numero uño for Dean and Cas, and it all falls apart.





	Falling Short

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prompt from the Destiel NaNoWriMo fb group from the Promptober challenge. Todays word was: Fall.
> 
> I used a prompt from fb posted a while ago about Dean preparing for a date with Cas and despite his best efforts it all goes to Hell.

Dean was exhausted, the jitters had kept him up all night. He hadn't been this nervous, nor this happy in...well, ever. Sam and Cas were coming back that night from a werewolf case in Burney Falls, Ca and had been on the road for a few days. Jack had been wanting more shooting practice lately and he’d specifically asked Dean to help him, so he’d decided to hang back with the kiddo. 

Cas had recently returned from the void and Dean had been over the moon to have him back. When he'd held his angel, his heart felt it was home. He simply couldn't keep his feelings inside any longer and was so relieved to find Cas felt the same. Sam wasn't very surprised, but he was quite happy. Jack just grinned ear to ear, the kid had proven to be a fan of love, didn't matter what kind. He was just thrilled to have his father back and that it brought change between himself and Dean.

So tonight they'd agreed to have their first official date and Dean was shocked to find he was actually nervous. With everything they’d been through, all the monsters they’d killed, the thought of being nervous over planning an evening with Cas seemed silly. Yet here he was pushing 40 and butterflies were flitting around in his stomach like they used to in his teen years. 

He could hear Jack shuffling around in the kitchen so he got up to find him making some instant apple oatmeal and hot chocolate. With Fall well under way in Lebanon, it was cool in the mornings and what kid didn't like warm, liquid sugar yumminess? He was very like his father in that his morning grumpiness showed, but did not rear it's head. Silence was golden as they woke up together without saying a word. Dean was almost to the bottom of his Lazarus brew and ready to take Jack down to the gun range when he felt a rather large chunk of coffee bean lodge in his throat and started coughing with severe force. He tried grabbing some water and washing it down, but it took a while to calm. 

Nothing like hacking up half a lung to get yer morning started.

He heard Jack ask if he was ok, he turned around to assure him he was fine and saw the kiddo flinch. “What’s wrong with you? It's called a coughing fit, just some coffee grounds caught in my throat.” 

“Dean what's wrong with your eye?” Jack asked, a little scared.

Well shit. What happened?

Dean walked back to his room to look in the mirror and saw he’d popped a few vessels on his right eye. 

Oh this is just….and it's date NITE so there's no justification for sunglasses. Friggin’ great. I look like a weirdo. Ugh. 

“Jack it's fine, just a few busted blood vessels. Doesn't hurt at all, just looks like crap. Let's get started on target practice.”

They headed down, he made sure Jack had his boots on, and all his safety wear. Dean started him out on two mags of a Taurus 9mm. The kid was pulling right a bit, so he helped him adjust his grip. After and another few clips he gave him an old Glock .45 which packed more of a punch, sure enough he struggled halfway through the first clip to control the kickback. It was fine though, he could have all the practice he needed. It gave Dean time to organize his thoughts for the day. His thoughts started drifting to more pleasant things..things involving warm angel kisses, soft sex hair, and-

“Ow shit! What the hell?” Dean barked as he tore off his grey henley. He’d been standing to Jack's right, trying to watch the recoil and daydreamed too far into Cas Land. One of Jack's shells had a hard eject and shot into the collar of his shirt on the left side of his neck. He ran into the bathroom and facepalmed, it wouldn't cause permanent scarring, not by a long shot. Dammit though if he didn't look like somebody had been sucking on his collarbone and gave him a hickey.

Oh that's gonna be for nice Cas to come home to. Hi honey, how was your kill? Promise I haven't been sucking face with anyone while you were gone.

It's chilly as all get out so maybe I can get away with a scarf...no I can't. Crap.

After a few hours in the range they called it quits. They showered and headed out to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for dinner. They were out so often on the road so he decided a simple home cooked meal and a quiet evening would be a good start, they could branch out from there as they wished. He wanted to make Cas meatloaf, it was his favorite comfort food when he was a kid and thought it would be nice to return home to. 

The first market was out of ground beef and seasoning, much to his frustration. The second had ground beef but no seasoning. It was Lebanon, they were running out of options, so Ladow’s on Main hopefully had what they needed. They did but Dean was ready to crawl up the walls when the relatively new card he'd acquired came up denied. Of course he didn't have any cash or coinage on his person at the moment, so he had to go back to the bunker grab some and make a U turn. He’d been trying to behave himself as of late, he looked great still...miraculously, but wanted to keep it that way. He was so irritated though, and Jack hadn't experienced Ladow's homemade cherry pie roll ups yet, it was criminal to pass that up. So along with the seasoning he bought one for Jack...and one for himself because of the morning he’d had. 

When they returned to the bunk and put everything away, Jack discovered the water pipe had burst in his room and was flooding rapidly. Dean stood at the kitchen counter with eggs, bread crumbs, and ground beef squished between his fingers as he’d begun to prepare the beef to sit. He silently threw his head back, closed his eyes, and took a long, deep breath.

“I’m sorry Dean, it was that way when I walked in I swear” Jack promised.

“No kiddo, it's fine. Not yer fault. Just uh..gimme a minute to clean up and I’ll be right in to fix it” Dean calmly replied. 

It took every towel in the bunker to soak up the water. Fortunately they had the tools and replacement parts necessary for the job, so not having to go out again was a plus. Unfortunately, after showering earlier Dean had chosen the shirt and jeans Cas seemed to like best on him, his eyes tended to roam more over the green henley. It made Dean feel mushy inside, but now he just felt wet. After cleaning up the mess and needing another shower, he settled on a simple black long sleeve and a different pair of jeans. 

“Dean can I help with anything? You’re acting..strange” Jack asked. 

“I appreciate that but, it's ok. Just ah..bumpy day is all. Nerves…”

“Nerves?”

Dean noticed the trademark labrador head tilt and squinty eyes. The first time he saw Jack do that he'd nearly lost it, wanted to kill him right then and there. The reminder of Cas had gutted him, he couldn't talk for two days afterwards. The more it sunk in though, the more he realized this kid CHOSE Cas as his father when he could've allowed his true parentage to take over. As much as it destroyed him to see these imprints of his angels mannerisms, something in him overrode the murder he so desperately wanted to commit. It was the fact that even though the love of his life was gone, part of him still existed. Jack was not Cas’s biological son, yet all that was good in the angel was being brought forth through this boy by CHOICE. That's what made him pause, and now he was glad for it. Jack was at times so much like Cas it was annoying, but he endeavored to learn and love. Dean couldn’t help the spell he was under, by Cas nor Jack. He became grateful for both in his life.

“Yeah, guess I’m nervous” Dean explained.

“Why?”

“It's our first date, I want things to be perfectly smooth and so far they're not. I’m kinda falling on my persqueeter here to be honest.”

“He’ll appreciate what you’re trying to do. He won't mind if it's not perfect, it's you he wants. I felt it even before I was born, and ever since. Even in the void, his love for you...it bled out into the universe. You really don't know how powerful it is, do you? This isn't something you should worry about.”

The kids occasional wisdom floored him at times. “Thanks Jack. Why don't you do your reading for the day and then you can watch some Scooby Doo, eh?”

They’d all encouraged him to take up the pastime, he wasn't born with Metatron's download so pop culture was lost on him. He’d loved Sam's gift off the Harry Potter books and now he was almost through with Cas’s suggestion of Percy Jackson. 

“I'm going to throw this in the oven and lay down for a bit, if the timer goes off and I don't hear it then grab me alright?”

“Alright” Jack smiled at him. He sauntered off to grab his book and the laptop. He set up at the kitchen table while Dean finished his preparations and cleaned up. 

An hour and a half later, Jack had put his book down and was enjoying an episode of “What's New Scooby Doo” when he sniffed the air. The food Dean made smelled pretty good, but now as he looked up from the laptop there was a slight haze in the kitchen and the scent was weird. The timer Dean set hadn't gone off, he didn't want to bother Dean but this evening seemed important to him so he decided to risk it anyhow.

He knocked on the bedroom door, there was no answer. He opened it slowly and poked his head in. “Dean?”

Dean had been spread on the new queen sideways on his stomach sleeping, he popped his head up suddenly “ye-huh? What's up?” he asked. He immediately smelled the burning food and shot off the bed to the kitchen.

“Ah crap, Jack why didn't you get me?”

“The timer never went off, I was here in the kitchen the whole time so I’d hear it but I never did. It smelled funny and that's when I got you. I’m sorry.”

Dean looked at the clock on the oven, pushed a few buttons...the oven worked, the timer did not. 

Great, juuuuust great. Now dinner was ruined. He really did not want to go out tonight but now there'd be no choice. His face fell as disappointment sunk in. All he’d wanted to do was provide Cas with some warm comfort food and a movie with cuddles after several days on the road. It wasn't fancy or grandiose for a first date, maybe not even officially a date since it would've been a night in. But it was an occasion that would've been just theirs, the first of many. And now it had literally gone up in smoke.

“It's alright Jack, I’m not mad at you. Ya can’t help a faulty timer.”

Dean grabbed the oven mitts and took a deep breath before opening the door. Sure enough the smoke came billowing from within the darkness. He turn the fan on and tried to air it out.The whole bunker was going to smell like burnt cow thanks to the damn oven. He carefully removed it, and took it to the garage trash bin.

Dean called the two restaurants in town which would even be considered close enough to acceptable for a dinner date. One was closed pending a health inspection, and the other had the entire night booked for a local business event.

Dean put his head on the library table and closed his eyes. Nothing had gone right that day. He’d promised Cas a date and now he would come back to nothing. He and Jack threw a measly salad together, it looked fit for a moose. He put it in the fridge and sat on his bed listening to music. 

A while later Jack came in to announce their arrival. Time to face the music. He followed Jack out to the library and found Sam standing at the top of the stairs asking Jack, “Ready to go? Movie starts in 20 minutes.."

“Yep” Jack smiled goofily.

Cas was walking down the stairs with a few boxes in hand and his bag over his shoulder. He smiled and greeted Jack in Enochian. Dean rushed to help him.

Sam sniffed the air, “Good job ruining dinner Jerk.”

“Shut up Bitch” Dean growled in irritation. He noticed one of the boxes was food. 

“Uh..hey Pizza Man” he smirked but was still nervous. “It's been one of those days Cas I’m sorry, nothing went right and dinner got ruined, couldn't even get a reservation when that went south.

Cas set down the boxes and smiled as he hugged Dean. “Jack texted. It's fine Dean, really I just missed you. It's thoughtful how much effort you put in, I’m happy to be home” he smoothly assured as he slid his arms to Dean’s waist and kissed him sweetly.

Everything was right in the world when this person was in his arms. Dean's inner storm calmed when Cas was close. 

“I brought you pies. Pizza pie, your favorite kind. And dessert pie. There was a new specialty bakery that opened up about an hour from here. Thought maybe we could try it” Cas said proudly.

“Sounds awesome Cas, thanks.”

The pizza hit the spot, he would have to remind him later what else the Pizza Man delivered, just for laughs. The dessert was different, it wasn't the standard american pie but outstanding nonetheless. Dean didn't even wait until he was done swallowing the first bite to mumble praise for it. 

“Om..Cash...jeez what's this? It's sho delishus!”

“It's Puolukkapiirakka, lingonberry pie. I thought it would be advantageous to try something new.”

“Kudos man, this is spectacular!” 

After dessert they snuggled into bed for the movie Dean had selected. Serendipity with Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack. It was a sappy as one could get, but Dean discovered his angel loved the feels as much he did. The day fell so short of what he had expected, but he had Cas by his side, after the last ten years it was really the best part and the only part of the day that mattered to him.


End file.
